GunBroker website?

[Styx]

I purchased several gun from GB... Most from FFL's and a few from private sellers... I will not buy from either unless they have an established record aka reviews.

 

[Riomouse911]

I’ve bought over 35 guns off of GB. Only one or two were “disappointing”; one definite disappointment was a gun that was a “.38 Special” victory model that was nicely cut down to a 2” snub... but the seller (A Texas pwn ship) failed to disclose it was from an opened-up .38 S&W cylinder so the cases all expanded and stuck when I fired it for the first time. I bought a good model 10 cylinder off eBay, asked a Smith armorer friend to fit/time it, then sold it for almost what I had in it.

The second is a S&W Model 48-4. .22 Mag that has something going on inside. After about 6 cylinders of .22 mag it’s all bound up and won’t work at all. This one I’m not pinning on the seller, I think it’s just one of those things that happened.

Good sellers are there on GB, they take a lot of pictures, give you good descriptions and sell with no reserve, penny-start auctions. My personal favorite seller is Locust Fork out of Alabama. They do a really good job on their auctions, are great to deal with, and sell a lot of consigned guns every year.

Good luck! Take your time, do your homework, communicate with the seller and you’ll be fine.

Stay safe.

 

[Hypnogator]

I've bought perhaps 20 guns through Gunbroker, with only two problems; both mistakes by the seller. The first one was a beautiful Charles Daley O/U skeet gun. The gun I received was not quite as pretty as the one I ordered, which I thought might be due to the lighting on the photos, until I saw it had 28" full and modified barrels. They sent me the wrong gun! When I contacted the seller, he profusely apologized, paid for return shipping, shipped the correct gun, and paid for my background check fees on both guns. The second just recently occurred, where a dealer offered a Taurus Judge 3" Magnum used for a decent price. From the pictures it appeared to be almost new, and in the original box. What I received was a used 2.5" Judge, in good condition, but clearly not the one pictured or described in the ad. Thinking that this might be another case of grabbing the wrong gun to ship, I contacted the seller, only to find out they had "confused" the 2.5" for the 3" Judge. They had no used 3" Judges in stock and tried to offer me a "deal" on a new one. To make a long story short, they stood behind their mistake and sold me a brand new 3" Judge with free shipping for what I had paid for the 2.5" used Judge. I did not have to complain to Gunbroker in either instance, as the dealers immediately corrected their mistakes. Would echo what others have said about making sure there are good pictures of any used weapons, and that the dealer will accept returns should the weapon not be satisfactory.

 

[comp124]

I've purchased four pistols this past year on GB, all were fine except one dealer listed the semi auto came with two magazines, when it arrived at my FFL, there was only one magazine. Didn't pay to ship it back as it would have cost me $25.00. Overall, I've been happy with my purchases.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I don’t want an unpaid item showing on my account. I also want it to be handled properly. I’m not going to be satisfied until this is totally off of my radar.

I wouldn't want that either. Buyer feedback and ratings are important as well as sellers.

I assume you have contacted Gunbroker about it?

 

[sparkyfender]

I have bought a few firearm accessories from GB, never a gun as I like to inspect what I buy in person. All good experiences.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I can think of two guns I bought on Gunbroker. Both good deals. One was a lot cheaper than the market price. No problems.

Here's something about Gunbroker that surprised me: I've done well looking for ammo and reloading components during dry periods. I found an outfit selling quality .22LR rounds for around 7 cents per round when the alternatives were much higher prices or waiting for the dry period to end. The weird thing is that people were complaining about the lack of .22LR at the time, and the seller had crates of it that never seemed to sell. I ended up with 11,000 rounds, if memory serves. No one seemed to want it. I didn't know what the future held, so I figured it was better to pay 7 cents than to wait for 5 cents and get nothing.

I also found a certain brand of primers at a good price, and the seller didn't add a hazmat fee! The big sites didn't have them at all.

Generally, you will see a lot of overpriced stuff on Gunbroker, but somehow some real deals slip through.

 

[WestKentucky]

I wouldn't want that either. Buyer feedback and ratings are important as well as sellers.

I assume you have contacted Gunbroker about it?

Yes, and they just don’t seem to give a rats behind. Their comments so far have been very seller friendly and to the point of trying to make me continue doggedly trying to contact seller begging them to take my money. They don’t care about buyers.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Yes, and they just don’t seem to give a rats behind. Their comments so far have been very seller friendly and to the point of trying to make me continue doggedly trying to contact seller begging them to take my money. They don’t care about buyers.

Ugh. Sorry for your troubles. That’s a bad deal.

 

[FFGColorado]

You're not buying directly from "Gunbroker", so it's just like buying from any particular dealer at a gun show. Buyer Beware! Educate yourself on what you're looking for, look closely, ignore the hype, ask questions and ask for pics if something doesn't look right. Don't pay over your limit and be willing to let the wrong gun go. The right one will ultimately appear...eventually.

Indeed..I bought 2 magazines from 2 retailers on GB..and they were both faulty..tried contacting them..crickets on both..

 

[Poper]

Yes, and they just don’t seem to give a rats behind. Their comments so far have been very seller friendly and to the point of trying to make me continue doggedly trying to contact seller begging them to take my money. They don’t care about buyers.

This is typical of GB. If you read their Terms of Use, it is spelled out very clearly that they are only providing a means of getting sellers and buyers together.

This situation just get worse when you have a problem with Gunbroker themselves. If there is a discrepancy in their charges, you lose by default and chances are your CC company will stand with GB because the GB terms say you cannot challenge GB's charges. I advise everyone to read the GB terms very closely.....

 

[drk1]

Yeah, I've brought a hundred or so items listed on GB. Don't bid any more than you're willing to loose! Seven pistols from seven different sellers turned out to have been stolen. An 1873 Winchester that was listed as being 85% condition, had a replaced barrel that wasn't even in the original caliber. Sent money to sellers for smaller items that I never heard from. One guy I sent money to, said that I'd sent it to the wrong address, so I sent it a second time to the address he specified, same result but both money orders were cashed! I could go on and on about the scams but the real nail in the coffin for me was GB recent announcement that they would be using "Google Analytics" which means that the left wing lunatics a Googls know every thing you do on GB -- every item you look at, every search you do, every item on bid on, every item you buy. I just can't feel all warm and happy with the nut-jobs at Google known that I'm even interested in firearms, much less that I might buy some. SO, I quit. Hope you do too.

 

[CZ-75BD]

I bought and sold several times on GB - guns and rifles.
Overall good experience. Don't like the look of the new design and function. Old design was much user friendly.
GB actually not selling you anything it acts as a middle man, you dialing with the sales from FFL and individuals.
Just as when you buy on the marked. Watch, look at he pictures, ask question, ask for pictures, ask as many question as you need to. Must individual sale with no return.
Be careful - read sellers feedback, don't buy if you smell something fishy.
Simple common sense.

 

[OneFreeTexan]

CZ-7580.......Key words there.........’Simple common sense’. Mainly seems to be missing in today’s world.

 

[mshootnit]

I do not like the new banner that you must accept cookies, I would much prefer legislation in the US like Europe allowing you to opt out by declining.
Gunbroker goes out of their way to hide their phone number and remain as anonymous as possible. I think they should keep auction records available to users longer.
I wish someone would provide a serious challenge to their monopoly. Their fees have gone up quite a bit over the years. Filthy rich

 

[dogtown tom]

..... And only do FFL TO FFL, NEVER send to or accept from a private person.

"FFL TO FFL" insures what? Only the additional expense of having the seller use an FFL on his end to ship a firearm. Sure, its cheaper for an FFL to ship a handgun or other concealable firearm USPS, but no FFL is needed to ship a rifle or shotgun interstate as long as it is received by an FFL.

And its perfectly legal to ship a rifle or shotgun intrastate between two "private persons" via USPS. Both seller and buyer have to be residents of that state and the seller has no reason to believe the buyer is otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm.

 

[bikerdoc]

It is illegal to do private sales in Virginia as of July 1.

 

[Legionnaire]

It is illegal to do private sales in Virginia as of July 1.

 

[shoobe01]

GB is EXACTLY like eBay for guns.

It's a little crappier, clunky, weird checkout process etc. But otherwise, the same principle. Meaning 97% of people are simply awful. Doesn't mean they lie, but they are just awful people.

Two examples:

• Guy selling a [modern self-loading milsurp project gun, about 90% done on a US receiver], keeps re-listing, re-listing, etc as no one will meet his reserve price, whatever that is. I also take him at face value, selling lots of stuff to discontinue the business. I message him to say that I probably can't afford it no matter what right now so this is not for me, but it's probably set too high, here's five more similar guns for sale from others with 30% lower price, if you didn't know and maybe it helps. TWO long, ranting responses about what a bad person I am and he knows what he has sort of stuff.
• I sold a pile of dumb AR parts. Used terms like "cheap," "don't know where this came from," and "seems weird, maybe from .22 or airsoft" in the auction. Lots of photos. Very specific and revealing of it all, start the auction at 99¢. Some guy wins, and (EVENTUALLY) pays, I ship. On receipt, long ranting emails, like four of them, that I deceived him, it's worth only some much lower price, refund him or he'll report me to the authorities. I stopped talking to him, reported to GB (who did nothing, not even a response to me!) and... he went away.

I have had a few nice folks as well. Sure. They happen also.

Do your deal. Be careful about seller reputations. Inspect photos closely. If something seems wrong, trust your gut and do not bid. And do not talk to anyone as much as you can avoid it.

 

[Waveski]

“97% of (Gunbroker) people are simply awful” ?
Absurd. I have had dozens of good transactions on GB in the last 7-8 years , never been burned.
Do I possess extra sensory perception , enabling me to indentify and deal with that scant 3% of good honest dealers?
No, I do not.
The truth is : the majority - I’d say vast majority - of sellers on GB are decent , honest people.

Trouble shoot your radar.

 

[LNF150]

I've bid on a number of rifles, haven't won one yet. I don't low bid and hope I win; I stick to my gun budget, tack on the shipping cost the seller is asking and then place my highest bid accordingly. If I get out bid, so be it. Plus it there are certain times of the year when hunting rifles sell cheaper than other times. There are also sellers that are fishing for the highest bid, then pull the gun at the end and put it back up for auction to see if they can get more. But, I consider that great information too.

 

[Elkins45]

I have no reservation about bidding on guns (even pricey ones) from sellers that are identified as FFLs and have thousands of feedback. I would be much more reluctant to do the same if the seller were someone like me who isn’t an FFL and has single-digit feedback. Yet I know I’m a good seller and an honest person. There are a lot of people who are essentially the same as me trying to sell the occasional unwanted gun. And there are almost certainly complete scumbags looking to rip someone off, but those people likely have no or very little feedback.

I do think the percentages are very solidly in your favor.

 

[drobs]

I use gunbroker all the time.

Preferences of mine are as follows.
1. I won't buy from a NR (non-rated) seller. I look at their recent feed back before bidding.
2. I prefer a seller who takes credit cards. Unless the seller is local, dealing with mailing money orders is annoyingly slow. No charge for credit is nice, but I'll figure what the percentage will be into my bid.
3. I always check the cost of shipping. I prefer used guns and prefer shipping to cost less than $30.
4. Free shipping is rare and usually only available on new "full price" guns.
5. I keep my local transfer dealer's fee ($25) in mind when bidding.
6. I keep an eye on "buy it now" guns but don't mind bidding in a real auction. That being said, I usually ignore auctions that have 8 to 10 days left on them. If it's something I like, I'll save it to my watch list.
7. I ignore auctions that have reserves. I'd rather bid on an auction that has a starting price.
8. I ignore auctions that start with $0.01 with 8 to 10 days on them. No one it going to win a gun for a $0.01. I'll either put my max bid in or wait till there's only a couple days left on the gun to bid.
9. When bidding - I'll usually put in my max bid from the start. I rarely get into bidding wars.
10. If I win the auction, I pay for it. There's no backing out - no buyers remorse.
11. I give feedback based on the transaction not the gun. I expect feedback on the transaction in return.

 

[Captcurt]

Generally, you will see a lot of overpriced stuff on Gunbroker, but somehow some real deals slip through.

I concur. Last week I caught a new 12 ga. Weatherby Element for $50 under my distributors price, and I checked 3 different distributors. Had a pretty nice piece of walnut on it too.

 

[mshootnit]

I've bid on a number of rifles, haven't won one yet. I don't low bid and hope I win; I stick to my gun budget, tack on the shipping cost the seller is asking and then place my highest bid accordingly. If I get out bid, so be it. Plus it there are certain times of the year when hunting rifles sell cheaper than other times. There are also sellers that are fishing for the highest bid, then pull the gun at the end and put it back up for auction to see if they can get more. But, I consider that great information too.

If there is a bid they cant pull it